My wife and I a couple evenings ago, sitting outside on a Friday night over a couple of drinks, had a good conversation about our feelings of Olympia and its residents. First you have to understand my wife and I are like James Carville and Mary Matalin. She a greener, and I a southerner from Atlanta. Makes for interesting conversations no less :) But she asked me about my attitude towards the recent protests of the last year since I've returned from the sandbox.

The folks on the corner in Sylvester Park once a week bothered me at first after returning home. But as time went on, even though I completely disagreed with them, I came to have a new found respect for their commitment and convictions. The same group of folks week after week after week for the past year, stood on that corner rain or shine. They have my respect. The Port is another story and yes, I do feel strongly about what happened. But that's another matter I don't want to get into at the moment.

Fast forward to today. The civil disturbance training is a state requirement and not a reaction to last week's protests. It's been planned for the last several months. Each battalion rotates every other year and is responsible for this duty. After starting off behind Avanti H.S. the soldiers moved back to the armory for a practical exercise and final written test. That's when a couple of anti-war folks showed up. We had a nice conversation with a gentleman about what we were doing and he asked several questions. I always find it nice when folks ask about us, what we do, and how the military works and he was genuinely interested. The people who came down were friendly and I said hi and talked to "Olygal" and another gentleman.

Drew was there filming what we were doing and for a moment I felt pretty awkwards. I didn't say anything to him for awhile. But after some time I asked him "Hey Drew, gonna put that up on the site?" It wasn't sarcasm, I just wanted to know if it was going to be posted so that I could save the video to my computer. I asked him "Are you Drew?" and he answered yes, and I extended my hand to introduce myself. I may completely disagree with Drew and what he has to say, but it seemed the nice thing for me to do. He and I talked for a bit and again, I disagree with what Drew has to say but the conversation was cordial. And this got me to thinking....

I've finally put a couple of faces to names. In the past I've posted some snarky comments in regards to protests and local happenings. I'm making a conscious effort to tone my posts down. We can jam away all we want behind the keyboard in the privacy of our own homes, but to meet somebody face to face is something different, especially after sparring with them on a forum. Those electrons on the screen are now flesh and blood.

In the end, I'm a conservative from the south (hey I got a lot of left leanings too ya know!) living the past eight years in a pretty liberal town. I really enjoy Olympia as I've always wanted to live in the PNW after watching the Goonies when I was 10. We are all more alike than we are different. Most of us want the same things in life. So a couple of you have now seen NWarty and know what I do. Nope, no sir, no secret there. Maybe some of us need to have a couple of beers together somewhere and cool off after this last week. I'll buy the first round, but not at the Reef, they'll never get the smoke smell outta that place. But on to my next experiment....wearing my uniform and going down to B&B tomorrow morning...Maybe ;) heh heh. I like Dancing Goats too, but I'm always there in civilian clothes with the wife and kids.

NWarty